Four Seasons debuts revamped Naples Beach Club resort

The Naples Beach Club has entered a new era.

With the opening of Naples Beach Club, A Four Seasons Resort, the storied beachfront property has been transformed into a $1 billion–plus redevelopment that blends contemporary luxury with a deliberate effort to preserve elements of Old Naples.

The project marks a significant evolution for the site the Watkins family first opened in 1946 — a beloved institution that, for many residents, helped define the city’s identity long before Naples became a national enclave for high-end coastal living.

The reopening restores public access to more than 1,000 feet of Gulf shoreline and reintroduces two local landmarks, HB’s beachfront restaurant and the Sunset Bar, after years of construction that reshaped both the waterfront and the neighborhood surrounding it. The new Four Seasons is the product of a partnership among BDT & MSD, The Athens Group and Four Seasons, whose leaders describe the project as both a reinvention and an extension of the site’s long-standing community ties.

The resort’s redevelopment followed a landmark real estate transaction that reshaped one of Naples’ most recognizable properties. In 2021, the Naples Beach Club sold for $362,289,599, a price considered by some analysts to be below market value given the 125-acre waterfront site, its golf course and its development potential.

“It starts with the legacy of Naples Beach Club and the history and how it’s been tied and intertwined with Naples, and it’s all been brought brand new,” said Cory Carlson, regional commercial director of Four Seasons, in an interview with WINK News. “We’ve actually brought back a couple of the iconic features, Sunset Bar and HB’s.” At the core of the redevelopment, he said, is the hallmark of the brand itself. “So, service is the most important thing. That’s what differentiates the brand of Four Seasons.”

The new resort opens with 220 rooms and 57 suites, five dining venues, a full-service spa and wellness center, racquet facilities and more than 32,000 square feet of event space. The resort’s Market Square, a new social hub, links dining, retail and gathering spaces intended to draw both visitors and locals.

Days before the public opening, Gulfshore Life provided a first look at the redesigned resort.

The opening also arrives with a substantial workforce footprint. Carlson said nearly 20,000 people applied for just under 400 positions. “We want guests to come in here and say, ‘Wow, Four Seasons really got this right,’” he said.

Alejandro Reynal, Four Seasons president and CEO, called the opening “an exciting milestone,” saying the resort was “meticulously designed to inspire connection to Naples’ idyllic coastal lifestyle” and to deliver “one-of-a-kind luxury experiences alongside Four Seasons’ renowned service.”

The redevelopment also includes an extensive private residential component. The 125-acre property will ultimately introduce 153 luxury residences — 58 directly on the beach and 95 along the golf course — developed in partnership with Discovery Land Company. A redesigned Tom Fazio 18-hole course, spanning 100 acres, is scheduled to debut in 2026 with new hitting bays, comfort stations and a clubhouse overlooking Old Florida–style landscaping.

For the city, however, the most consequential changes extend beyond the built environment. More than 104 acres have been placed into permanent conservation easement. The protections carve out a significant buffer of green space in one of Southwest Florida’s fastest-growing communities, where coastal land is increasingly scarce and often subject to intense development pressure.

At the same time, the project preserves elements long familiar to Naples residents: the Mary C. Watkins Tennis Center, a public-facing golf experience and legacy dining spaces that were, for decades, community gathering points. By reintroducing HB’s and the Sunset Bar, both redesigned with a contemporary aesthetic but rooted in their historical footprints, developers signaled an intention to tie the project back to a Naples that existed long before its accelerated luxury boom.

The resort’s architecture and interiors lean heavily into that heritage. Exterior architect Hart Howerton drew inspiration from the historic cottage style of Old Naples, reinterpreting it with a contemporary silhouette and locally inspired materials. Champalimaud Design crafted interiors meant to echo Gulf Coast light and texture, from bleached Pecky Cypress ceilings to sculptural friezes depicting native palm leaves. Suites and guest rooms emphasize indoor-outdoor living with expansive terraces, coastal palettes and custom millwork that nods to midcentury Gulf vernacular.

For longtime residents, the redevelopment’s significance is as much cultural as economic. Naples has spent years navigating the tension between explosive growth and a desire to maintain the relaxed coastal character that once defined it. The new Naples Beach Club attempts to bridge both impulses, a luxury resort backed by global brands, rooted in a site that carries generational memory. The project offers a test of whether heritage and high-end redevelopment can coexist, and whether the city can preserve the identity that drew people here long before the Four Seasons arrived.

WINK News contributed to this report.